Chapter 330 Whose Future
Zhang Yunqi usually has lunch after 1 o'clock.

If you run a restaurant, you must serve the guests well before serving your family members.

Logically speaking, the Zhang family already had enough of these things, so there was no need to do this. In addition, the eldest brother Zhang Yunfeng had already opened six stores in the city, and even established an operating company with many employees. Most of the grassroots employees were brought up from Yunxi Village. In the past, young people from Yunxi Village would go to Guangdong to work in the south and move bricks in factories after graduating from junior high school. Now the situation has changed a lot, because Zhangji has become their new and better place.

As an old signature store, Zhangji No. 1 Middle School Store could actually be managed and operated by a store manager and employees sent by the operating company. But Mrs. Zhang was not happy about that. She always wanted to find something to do. As an older generation, she couldn't sit still. Although running this store was hard, it was fulfilling and she enjoyed it.

In addition, prices skyrocketed in 1994. In order to adjust the unreasonable pricing methods in the planned economy, the state carried out price reforms, but this objectively increased the production costs of enterprises. In addition, this year the state introduced tax reforms and exchange rate unification, wage reforms for state organs and institutions, and enterprises also carried out wage reforms. These have increased the cost burden of various enterprises and ultimately caused rising prices. Inflation is very serious. All walks of life have ushered in a wave of price increases, and Zhang's fish meal shop is no exception. There have been some price increases, but the No. Middle School store has not increased its prices. Zhang's mother felt that it was not easy to support Zhang Yunqi and his siblings to study, and the family was not short of money. She always felt that it was really hard for students nowadays to study, and she would be satisfied if she could earn a little money to subsidize the family.

After lunch, the three of them went to school.

Ji Ling and Chu Jian went to the classroom, and Zhang Yunqi went to the boys' dormitory.

When I was in the first year of high school, there were four of us living in a dormitory for six people, including Zhang Yunqi. Now, only two little fools, Wang Xiaokai and Tian Zhuangzhuang, are left.

In the deep winter, the air in the dormitory was so cold that it seemed to be frozen. There was a lot of garbage, and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned for a long time. Smelly socks that hadn't been washed for a long time were hung on the bed frame, and there was a sour smell. The pictures of Maggie Cheung and Cherie Chung on the wall had dust and spider webs on their chests. On the other hand, the Selected Works of Mao Zedong on Wang Xiaokai's desk looked a little worn because he had read them so many times, but it was still spotless.

When Zhang Yunqi walked into the dormitory, Tian Zhuangzhuang's fat body was wrapped in the quilt, and he was concentrating on reading "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". Like Maggie Cheung and Cherie Chung, Xiaolongnu and Huang Rong were also the objects of his wet dreams.

Seeing Zhang Yunqi, Tian Zhuangzhuang turned over and sat up: "Hey, why is Boss Zhang here today?"

Zhang Yunqi hadn't been to the dormitory for a long time. He felt that many things seemed a lifetime ago. He pulled a chair and sat down and said, "Where's Kaizi?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang pressed his eye boogers against the bed frame and said, "The class is going to have a New Year's Eve party, and they need to buy things. Kaizi went to be a lackey for some girl."

Zhang Yunqi had forgotten about this matter. He had promised Li Yufei that he would go on stage to perform a show when the time comes. He had no preparation at all. However, he just wanted to do it in his class, so he just wanted to make it simple and lively. He probably just needed to buy some fruits and snacks, hang some colorful lights, and add a few singing and dancing performances, and it would be complete.

Zhang Yunqi picked up the Selected Works of Mao Zedong on the desk and said, "The class is about to start. Let's go to the classroom. After school this afternoon, let's call Kaizi to go to the hospital to check for impotence."

Tian Zhuangzhuang said, he rolled off the bed: "Impotence usually looks quite wretched, but I didn't expect him to be so tough this time. It seems like he doesn't want to study anymore."

Zhang Yunqi asked: "How do you say that?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang said in a naive voice: "With such a big thing happening at home, how could he have the energy to study? His grades were not good, and he couldn't get into any good university. He felt that he was wasting money and time. He said several times in the dormitory that he wanted to drop out of school. Recently, he has been selling barbecue at a street stall to supplement his family income. You know this."

Zhang Yunqi didn't know what to say. The most precious thing for a person is the power to choose, but young people can still squander it.

When they arrived at the class, Wang Xiaokai and several girls who were responsible for preparing the New Year's Eve party had returned. They were counting the things they had bought.

Zhang Yunqi wanted to understand the situation, so he walked over and asked Li Yufei for the program schedule.

Li Yufei tilted her head and asked him, smiling quietly: "Why do you suddenly care about this?"

Zhang Yunqi flipped through the program schedule and asked, "What do you mean?"

Yu Qingqing glanced at Li Yufei, who was smiling, and deliberately stretched out her tone and said, "Needless to say, people blame you for not caring enough about class activities."

Zhang Yunqi felt a toothache when he heard this: "How can this be true? I have participated in all the group activities in the class, right?"

Yu Qingqing asked back, "Can the previous group activities be the same as this one?" After a pause, she added with a smile, "Who is in charge this time?" Zhang Yunqi said without thinking, "Li Yufei."

Yu Qingqing was so angry that smoke came out of her nostrils: "Kaizi, do you know how the pig died?"

The mistress Wang Xiaokai immediately responded: "Stupid!"

Zhang Yunqi stretched out his hand and slapped Wang Xiaokai: "They say that brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons fight together in battle. I think your revolutionary will is not firm at all. You forgot your father after you got a wife, and you even ridiculed me. Where is the deep father-son love you once had? You were caught watching a movie in a video hall, and you forgot about calling your father to save you?"

Wang Xiaokai's face turned green when he heard this: "Boss Zhang, pay attention, pay attention, be polite! These are the buds of the motherland."

Zhang Yunqi felt amused and looked at Yu Qingqing's puzzled eyes. He guessed that little fool Wang Xiaokai would have to kneel on the washboard again.

He flipped through the schedule and the New Year's Eve party was roughly arranged like this. On the evening of New Year's Eve, there was a party in the class, starting at seven o'clock. In addition to singing and dancing, there were also several games, such as the game of passing the flower, which was very popular in that era. Zhang Yunqi felt that this was not exciting enough, and suggested adding a game of truth or dare. However, several girls did not know what truth or dare was. He explained it twice and they all found it interesting.

The show will probably last until about 10 o'clock, and then the students will watch movies together in the classroom. They will rent some classic videotapes. It was not easy for students to watch movies in those days, and it was considered a major entertainment hobby. According to this plan, it will probably last until the early morning, but students don't have to worry about accommodation and can rest in the dormitory.

Zhang Yunqi thought for a moment and asked, "By the way, do you want to have dinner together on the evening of the party?"

Yu Qingqing said: "We thought before that the students would solve the problem themselves, because the dinner party would cost too much..."

Zhang Yunqi said, "I think we can do this. That afternoon, most people will be out of school for the holiday. The students in our class can have a meal together on the second floor of the cafeteria. After dinner, we can go back to the classroom for the party. Don't worry about the expenses. Everyone in the class has paid. I will take care of the shortfall when the time comes."

After Zhang Yunqi said this, everyone felt relieved.

Zhang Yunqi didn't have too many thoughts. He wasn't so vulgar as to act like a big shot in front of these students. He just felt that they had been together in high school for more than two years and the time to leave this school was getting closer. It was the first time to organize such a group activity and he had such conditions. He could do something small to let everyone eat, drink and have fun, and then chat about friendship with classmates on a snowy night and welcome the arrival of 1995 together. Well, it was a wonderful thing.

At least many years later, it should still be vivid in your mind.

After school in the afternoon, Zhang Yunqi, Wang Xiaokai and Tian Zhuangzhuang went to the hospital to see the injured Yang Wei.

Before leaving, Zhang Yunqi called Yang Wei's sister Yang Jin over to learn about the situation at Senhai. This was what he was most concerned about at the moment, but due to his sensitive identity, it was not easy for him to go there in person.

Yang Jin told him that all the relevant departments in the city had rushed over and the city’s big boss was also on the scene, which showed how much importance the city from top to bottom attached to this matter.

In fact, the preliminary investigation results of the Red Star fire not long ago have come out. The conclusion is that no one deliberately set the fire. The fire was caused by an employee named Yang Sanduo who threw cigarette butts randomly. He was also burned to death on the spot. In addition, there was no physical contact between the Red Star factory guards and the demolition team that night. Both parties were rational and restrained. When Zhang Yunqi learned of the investigation results, he immediately thought of Yang Wei, whose head was wrapped like a dumpling in the hospital.

The affairs of this world are unclear.

However, no matter what, the adverse impact caused by the Red Star fire incident is already shocking enough. This is also thanks to this era of information closure. If it were in the future, wouldn’t it have topped the hot search list for several days in a row?

Zhang Yunqi knew that with this series of changes, the situation had reached a critical point amidst the undercurrents. Liu Dongsheng's self-explosion would inevitably drag Zhao Shiming into the abyss. The fire at the Red Star Factory and the incident of employees taking to the streets to block the road had forced the city to advance funds for Sennheiser Group.

At such a time, in the snowy year-end of 1994, except for Zhang Yunqi, perhaps few people could realize that this accident would play a decisive role in Jiangchuan City's state-owned enterprise property rights system reform, the development of the real estate industry, the future of the real economy, the two-way flow of urban and rural factors, the revitalization and utilization of rural assets and resources, and the development of modern agriculture.

This game of chess concerns the future of every Jiangchuan citizen.

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(End of this chapter)